M.is in negotiations with one of the family members who has access to the website, Also, the “IRS” handout has been stalled. Some issues need to be resolved at the Foundation first.

Escola de Semente:

R V contacted U to help him set up a fundraising project ; U gave him the best option for Portugal site (www.ppl.pt) and R V will study what is needed to set up a fundraising drive (photos, video, gifts, content).

The Bread Project:

E will give GV’s number to Uso she can call him and remind him that he intended to order bread. But: we must assume he that wanted to find a way to get the know-how.

M. has a contact for E for a shop in Praça A. for rent, this could be a good place for a bakery at a low price.

The Foundation is getting its own bread oven, not to feed the children (they get a lot of bread as donation) but to teach them how relate to and produce their food in a natural way.

Penta presentation

C gave us a presentation of the Penta project.

This is an Association in Funchal with a few members promoting an upgrade on the education concept behind the Walldorf schools. The major point is that the parents need to be educated before the children. Adults should have an integrated approach to their own lives, working will all five (Walldorf is based on four) of their own elements (Emotional, Mental, Vital, Physical and Spiritual). Children then copy their parents – even if parents do not see the results of this copying behavior reflected to them. This can be done by Art Therapy, Family Drama (“Constelação familiar”, to get rid of old ghosts in the closet) and other techniques. The Association also organizes walks and creates “insight” labyrinths in nature

C is a medical doctor but studies psychology and has received training on this approach from two teachers who now live in the UK (http://www.lazzarus.net/ ) The Association would like to get them over to Funchal to give training to the parents and teachers in Escola de Semente.

Other Stuff:

Al is offering Acupuncture in Funchal, in a practice in Rua da Carreia 100.

“Mundo Sustentável”, the used good resale place is behind the Forum, below the “Po de’Arroz” hairdresser’s shop.

We had Fireman Sa. as guest again. He gave us a report about the recent fires on Aug 5 – 6. He said that the conditions, with Leste coming over from Africa and with a wind speed of 75/85 km were a “perfect storm” situation. The Leste brought fire sparks down from the rim above the city.

In these situations, the firemen are on high alert and make rounds but they cannot prevent that fires start or are stated. E-was of the opinion that the Pastores who had protested about the restriction of their activity, started the fires above Funchal but Sa. said that their areas are more above S. Antonio, not S. Roque. The burning tires made the situation look very bad, there were also oil tanks wit in the tire storage facility which blew up. Old houses with damaged roofs are in special danger from flying sparks.

Sa. said that in these situations, people call for more firemen and equipment, but this would not help, he is in favor of prevention. 1 fire spot can cause 85 other fires in 1 hour so vigilance is essential. The firemen in Funchal work well together, and even when they are out for a coffee and see a fire at any time, they are proactive and send someone up there to investigate. This approach is not shared by other fire brigades outside of Funchal. He is also in favor of shared fire ponds in the communities. The communities have to come together for this.

Eucalyptus is a bad tree and should be eliminated. The disadvantage with this tree is that, even after a fire, the wood can still be used by the pulp factories to produce paper so the Paper Lobby has no problem with burning Eucalyptus forests.

Forest management is also very bad on the mainland. Gr. said that the north of Portugal is covered in Eucalyptus. After a fire, reforestation would be the ideal tool to prevent future fires but this not promoted by the Government. It was not done around S. Bras when D & S had to abandon their house twice because of the fire danger.

Sa. said that 75% of the land is in private hands, the owners are responsible for clearing out the forests. They often cannot be identified as the land registry is weak so the Government cannot apply fines for neglect.

The population used to go into the forests for firewood, nowadays, this is not needed anymore – it’s probably forbidden – this is another point why forest fires are increasing. It is even difficult now to find personnel to clean out forests; the job is not interesting and pays too little.

In the mainland there is a Fire Mafia. Government owned planes and helicopters are mysteriously out of order with maintenance problems and the Government has to hire private equipment at a high cost for fire fighting – good business for certain companies.

Sa. also said that tests with helicopters must be done in Madeira in the summer, not in winter when realistic conditions do not exist. Then we could see if fire fighting could be done on the island fir helicopters (with sweet water) or not.

Sa. said that the Proteccao Civil takes charge in such situation and they mess it up for publicity stunts, saying that everything is under control when it isn’t.

In regards to the funds for the people and companies affected by the Fire (V.) the Government should come through with decisions and hopefully , funds by mid-November

The Bread Project:

E. discovered that he can obtain the NAKU bread bags from a known shop for free, they receive plenty from a supplier. He is still looking for a place to bake his bread. He has a certain place in mind but if it doesn’t work, he is willing to invest to get a bakery for himself – no risk – no gain. An- could get him a contact to a specific Hotel group, maybe he could also bake there at night

He brought us a delicious sample of bread – mmh!

The Escola staff needs to get back to us to start working on their Blog and fundraising efforts. Ma. said that she would have more time as of mid-October.

V gave E. a “plastic” bag, to store bread and keep it fresh. The bag, produced in Austria, is not made with oil but of plant material, and decomposes easily; it can be re-used several times. The bag can be printed on. The producer is www.naku.at.We discussed the logo and design for linen bags for sale along with the bread.

We also spoke about the support we want to give the Escola de S..

We shall propose to their Team to create a blog for them, based on the text that we developed after the July meeting with them. U is going to send the approved content to Do. to look at. E.has photos; we need those for a blog. U will ask Ma. for their bank details so we can perhaps also add a PayPal donation button.

We also spoke about fundraising and how to go about it

Do. said the most important issue for fundraising is to answer the questions on what the project is and what they need. The fundraisers also need to propose adequate gifts as thank you for the donations received, e.g.

a postcard with children’s paintings for a donation of 5€,

for 10€ a donor would get a mug,

and for 25€ he would get a yearbook,

for higher amounts he would receive a mention of his name as sponsor on a (movable) plaque in the school.

An ongoing fundraising effort would be better that an occasional action, with the receipt of money from time to time.

“Teaching” support

There we have many options. S.used to go to her children’s school and read a poem which would inspire the children to make a drawing/painting about the topic, S. then gave assisted them in this. Such visits can lead to the composition of a yearbook, also as Thank You to donors.

We have a recycling shop behind the Forum, “Mundo Sustentavel”, They accept used goods for household, decoration & more and resell them; the proceeds are split between the seller and the shop: Tel 291619768, info@mundo-sustentavel.com

Frente Mar has some shops out for public tender for rent in/near the Lido Swimming pools, several artists are working there.

We visited the Meteorological Station in Rua da Lazareto, it was very informative, and we had a lot of questions in regards to Feb 2010.

The Station (www.ipma.pt ) is run by the state as part of a national and international network. The observer Luisa gave us a professional tour; she does this with many groups.

Madeira has 118 stations, including one in P.Santo (but none on the Desertas or the Selvagens, too close). Most of them are running automatically and have to be maintained scrupulously. The one in Rua do Lazareto, active since 1947, is automatic and “manual”, as the observers take measures which cannot be delivered by mechanic devices (they have a scheme how to identify different forms of clouds). The Station has two observers and two meteorologists.

The team has to be one of the rare groups in Portugal which has to be punctual at work, the have to take several measurements at precise times each day.

Luisa then showed us the PCs which monitor the measurements of all 18 stations at any time, and the details they can obtain from each station. She then showed us all instruments to measure, temperature, humidity, air pressure etc in the house: very delicate instruments which were cleverly designed long time ago. She also showed us some measures outside (until we were chased inside by a shower). One of them works with horse’s hair to measure humidity. They also take wind speed and the temperature in the soil in 50 cm and 1 m depth – no frost here, Sir.

The Station in Funchal (as in Azores and in Canarias, and some platforms on sea) releases a helium balloon every day at precisely 12 noon, with small instruments to measure the same data on the top level of the atmosphere (around 31.000 km). The balloons need around 1.5 hours to get there, then they burst and fall back to earth or into the sea (with batteries inside, but solar would not be powerful enough to transmit the radio signals back to the station). The container is equipped with a small parachute as not to hit somebody in the head, and sometimes people who find such a container, return them to the Station.

The Cupola above the station is not a planetarium but covers the old antenna which used to receive the balloon signals; now they us e smaller, more modern one.

The Station also measures seismic shocks with magnitude and epicenter – not much going on here but it is so sensitive that it registers heavy lorries driving nearby. Madeira has 2 -3 seismic shocks per year, the Azores have around one per day. The paper rolls written by the seismograph are sent to Lisbon for the archive.

All measurements are automatically sent to Lisbon where the national weather forecasts are drawn up. Lisbon also has access to satellite data. Lisbon then sends a 10-day forecast to the Civil Protection, the Capitanias and the Government for Fisheries and Agriculture, also to “Frente Mar” for the safety on the beaches.

Dra J., one of the meteorologists, joined us then, and we spoke about Feb 2010. U. supplied the data and email received by an American scientist about the incident – this was what they call an atmospheric river storm.

Madeira is supposed to have its own weather radar since long time, now it looks as if we’ll get it in 2016/2017; it will be installed in P. Santo. This would give the Station a better way to identify heavy loads of water arriving in the oncoming clouds.

Dra. J.said that the respective authorities were duly warned (“vermelho”) but as we know from the Bombeiro visit, these guys knew what was coming from their own weather station in Monte.

Anyway, the warning was given and it would be up to the Civil Protection to amplify the warning to the population, by radio, TV or SMS; this is a political matter. Dra. J. said that, after Feb 2010 we had another atmospheric river hitting the Island, but at that time, Funchal received a lot of rain quickly, while the other half of the water arrived in Pico Areeiro and rained off at a much slower rate. This is why this situation, although also “vermelho”, didn’t cause any harm.

Feb 2010 was a lot of bad luck, and the population as a short memory when it comes to disasters.

We visited the Marine Biology Station on Praia das Gaivotas, E’s place of work. The Ocean observatory is housed there, and Gr., although she is not officially back to work, also helps out there.

AL, one of the scientists, graciously showed us around. On appointment, she offers guided tours in English and Portuguese on a regular schedule. This would also be an interesting for tourists walks – nobody knows about it!

The station has an extensive library; the oceanographer Luiz Saldanha donated many unique books to the Station. The content is already available in digital format under www.cm-funchal.pt -> Ciencia ->Publicacoes. The Summer University students (Leicester) study here with E. One scientist is currently studying the impact plastic residue has on the marine animal world.

The station, dedicated to the study of the ocean and its species, is fifteen years old. It was supposed to be a part of a bigger complex; due to monetary restraints, the rest will not be built. The station has six floors and houses several, dedicated laboratories. The technical equipment (long lines of multiple tubes on the ceilings, big microscopes, lab bottles – empty as well as filled with something – is quite good. A rolling archive houses thousands of animal species in formaldehyde and alcohol.

The station works with in conjunction with UMa and the Municipal Aquarium in Rua da Mouraria. It is part of an international network of Marine Biology stations. Some preserved species from the Aquarium, are now housed in tanks in the Station, including the head of a once five-m long shark in formaldehyde. Some of the species stored may already be extinct by now.

The station has dedicated laboratories and teaching spaces; Gr was working in one of them. It also affords living space for visiting scientist. On the ground floor, above the beach, are two tanks which can accommodate turtles. One of the scientists is tracing them. Local fishermen also cooperate with the station; when they catch unusual species, they contact the scientists to collect them at the auction and take them to the station to be studied. The station is also a point of reference for scientists worldwide who want to compare species to ascertain of they found a new sub-species in our Waters.

Discussion:

We then started off by talking about the Redistribution of Wealth text.

The rich are not the problem; they can be a part of the solution. It’s a fact that the Portuguese have no culture of giving, they only think of themselves, their family and their friends. Since the times of Salazar, they are used to doing what they are told, they have no revolutionary traits – maybe something in that vein is starting now on the Algarve islets, due to the mass eviction of poor people (from illegal homes, endangered by rising water levels). They are also keen on subsidies which stop them from growing foodstuff for their own use and local sales. They also duly follow the seduction by advertising and throw away and replace instead of recycling, re-using and repairing products.

The Greeks import every lemon, now they will have to create an internal, local economy and start growing their own food. Where there is demand, supply will follow.

Wealth does not need to be measured by money, we can consider ourselves rich when we have a satisfying life.

Money is empowerment; it should not be kept under the mattress, it needs to circulate.

Ce would like to forbid the money flowing into sports in order to redirect the funds to social projects. Subsidies should be abolished.

Education is the cornerstone to get the population to come away from the “Taker” model (Ishmael) and get them to fight for a more meaningful life.

People need to start to question things and they need to stop using subsidies, they can use crowdfunding to start up a business (kickstarter, indiegogo, for Portugal www http://ppl.com.pt ). A site comparing crowdfunding sites: http://www.crowdfunding.com/ it is mportant to choose well because the platforms charge at least a 5% fee for the campaigns.

Transparency: everything needs to and will be disclosed on the internet in the future. The “traditional” administrator who thinks that he can do what he wants, without benign controlled, will be a thing of the past.

Crowdfunding is a new form of financing, open to all, not just the rich. D invested a bit of money in an apparatus, invented but yet to be developed and marketed, which replaces the cumbersome Sleep Apnoe masks many persons need to use.

Then E read us a text of his, with the story of how he came to like and bake bread of the highest quality. With this meeting, we came to the following conclusion:

We decided that it would be a good project for the group to promote E’s dream of a bakery and bread shop (no Café) to produce and sell his bread, based on old strains of grains (Spelt, Emmer, Einkorn. Kamut). We would help him get the funding through a crowdfunding site, and Ri could take good photos and produce a video for the site. We have to choose the best platform http://www.crowdfunding.com/ to reach the maximum national and international support. As incentive for the backers, E can offer bread subscriptions.

E’s bread can also be exported, he already had requests in this regard.

This would set a good example for the population of self-help to produce a local, Madeira-made product, with grains from Madeira Island, milled on site. A healthy, not genetically modified and not poisoned bread.

This group goal will also be in line with Ri’s idea that the group should focus and work on a meaningful concept

The group went to visit the local Municipal Fire Station in Funchal to the North of Dolce Vita.

This was a very interesting visit. Chief Samuel, one of the shift leaders with many years of experience, showed us the station and the cars and gave us honest answers to a lot of prickly questions.

The highlights:

The team has 137 staff (it should have 140)

26 persons are always on call on 12 hour shifts.

The response time is very quick, especially if you do not call 112 (officially what you have to do) but directly to them (291 200930).

The city is divided into two parts:

West: Municipal Bombeiros,

East: Voluntary Bombeiros, but if there is a fire in the Zone Velha or around the Cathedral, both units always respond.

The staff have a gym, a canteen (most bring their own food) , a multi-purpose room with internet and sleeping quarters.

A regular fireman/woman earns around 600-700€ month, a Chief around 1100€ (they say, brut, less taxes…)

Nothing much may happen in a shift but they have to be alert. Tension is palpable in the building and the courtyard.

The equipment:

There is never enough money around to have the best equipment and maintenance but this is a complaint every Fire Station in the world voices. The FNC Volunteers have worse equipment, though.

A lot of equipment is bought from Germany. The base of the cars may be coming from Mercedes but the top is built by a Portuguese company, Jacinto. They are very good at custom building fire equipment and sell their fire engines all over Europe. (Land Rovers are not the favourite Fireman car, they are being replaced over time.)

There are smaller cars to check out a situation – the Fire Chief has always to be there first.

They have one car to free people trapped in cars – this is the worst job they have to do

Ladder cars:

We have the biggest ladder in Portugal (55m) this is the second biggest ladder in Europe. Think of hotels like Pestana Carlton…

There are regular Fire Trainings in the hotels for the firemen by the Fire Departments. These trainings serve also to check the pipes and hydrants. All hotels have to have an internal “first response” Fire Team.

Water tanks:

All cars have water tanks of various sizes, the biggest contains 32000 l water (all hydrant water is fresh water)

They also come with foam which is very effective but expensive. The Station has a tank of 1000 l foam.

The pipes are surprisingly slim; water pumps can be taken out by hand to be placed where they can be connected to external water supplies.

The Station also has a training tower to train for high-rise fires. The staff has lot of training sessions to keep them in shape and respond to new situations or regulation.

Ambulances:

They have ambulances just for emergencies; the Volunteers and other services (Red Cross) take care of non-urgent transports. In the time we were there, the ambulances moved out twice. – no fire alarms.

E., with his dire experience in Monte last year, spoke about the shortcomings during the situation (hydrants blocked, lagoon water not used, no help from the fire department) Chief Samuel acknowledged this.

Chief Samuel confirmed that there was an order to save the Monte Church – nowadays; such an order could not be imposed on the Firemen anymore.

On February 20, 2010, contrary to the rumours, only 42 persons died, and nobody drowned in the underground parking garages.

The Fire Department has its own water gauge in the mountains so that they know when a flood can be expected downtown.

In Dolce Vita, the order was to evacuate the parking, and people tried to take out their cars but the “guards” wouldn’t open the gates without payment so more cars were rendered unusable

This meeting could have been televised, that`s how good it was! We exchanged a great deal of experiences and I think we learned a lot.

I shall try to capture the essential points here.

First, A showed us a part of his Quinta in the middle of Funchal, with around 3.5 ha land. He planted several types of wine for Madeira wine; the harvest is going to B. , this company also takes care of the care and maintenance. The farm also grows herbs, vegetables and bananas.

A has a plan to create a Café and a shop for local products in one of the Quinta entrances. The street is a favorite walk down to town by tourists who take a toboggan ride to Livramento, and then walk down to Funchal. Around 180 people walk down there daily so there would be a good opportunity to have them come in for a coffee.

The visitors could also walk around the farm and visit the sheep (!). A has plans for an old storage facility: he wants to turn it into an art gallery and Ateliers. Important to him: the whole project must be holistic, made up of pieces of nature, art and culture which harmonize with each other. It has to have high quality and would set a good example for other projects.

In the Manor House, A installed Local Lodging for groups, five bedrooms are available. The guests have access to the beautiful garden, with pool, table tennis and tennis. There is not restaurant; the tourists do their own cooking. Ahad good bookings in July and August, with an interesting variety of visitors. With a visit to this one-of-a-kind Quinta, visitors who are sometimes unaware of what they are booking, receive a unique experience in a genuine Manor House with plenty of history and beauty.

Afterwards we sat down in a beautiful pavilion A has on the grounds and discussed our aims, ideas and disappointments with our various projects.

A`s group wants to create an association for the preservation of the natural treasures and culture of the island. Especially Ri, as photographer, has a large archive of photos and films that show how the island looked some decades ago and how it looks now. The degradation of the country side, due to man-made and natural causes and fires, is well visible. He said that that there is good documentation of old times but hat there was a break in the last century. As much of the knowledge and substance is lost, the younger generations do not understand how important it is to preserve this knowledge and the natural diversity and to build on it. The association would aim to plant a seed to educate the population about the treasure we have in this island.

Miis a business man, he told us about his experience with a village in Northern Portugal. He started to buy small ruins there, restored them for Turismo Rural and brought income to the community. He also had them plant flax to weave linen, to produce high quality products for sale to the tourists. He got a classification as National Treasure for the village, and then he ran into trouble. The Mayor did not want to publish the classification because he had plans to install wind farms around the village. Miis not working on this project anymore.

He also had a similar experience with a grape seed project, The machine to crush the seeds (the powder, an expensive product with high profit, has anti-cancer properties) constantly broke down, probably due to bad handling.

What they took away from this experience:

You cannot force or compel Portuguese people do to anything they do not want, not even if it is with the best of intentions. Madeira Consorcio members learned the same from (among others) the basket project.

We need to pick people up where they are. We need to listen and see what they need.

The market is ruled by supply and demand, if there is no demand – in this case, for a solution to a problem – the people will not take up suggestions.

On the other hand, demand can be created by creating and marketing a new product.

We have to be persistent if we want to achieve something.

We have to start new product ourselves, if they are good, the Portuguese will copy it.

Projects need luck but Eis convinced that we can make luck happen!

How we can co-operate:

Ehas found an able potter on Madeira who is copying his “Römertopf” pottery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_pot_cooking). With these pots, everybody can bake healthy, leavened bread in a household oven. He is already teaching a group of kids how to bake bread; he can do that also for a group of children A is working with.

Sacan teach painting techniques to the children. All these activities will give working-class children unforgettable experiences which might move their lives into a different direction.

Although it was a lot about failure, this was a great meeting about new approaches for both Groups.

It is 125 years old, in Italian style, intended as stage for operas and operettes. Tania from the management showed us the backstage, the cave (with carpentry and the access to the souffleuse box) , the Primadonna boudoir and the top where the backdrops and curtains are hanged and moved from. It’s a bit scary up there, very dark, and with steep steps but well worth it!

On the top in the Cupola, the backstage sheets used to be painted before being lowered on ropes behind the curtain. Here, the chandelier with Murano glass is hanging down, and the space would be ideal for an artist’s atelier. Plus, you have amazing views over the Municipal garden and the sea.

Rodrigo is from Ponta do Sol, he was in the army for eight years, then he went as a volunteer to Haiti and learned there how to build composting toilets (dry sanitation). He now lives here and teaches people about composting human waste for fertilizer, permaculture and a more natural lifestyle – use less, spend less, waste less!

N brought us a brick made of 75% wood chips and 25% paper, he built a simple but effective mechanical machine to press the bricks (100 bricks/hour, he sells such a machine for around 200€). The bricks burn slowly (25 – 30min) and well (best in a rocket stove), with little smoke, and are good for barbecues, lambiques, and heating other systems. Next N will try to use feiteira with another resinous material (to get the brick to hold together). He plans to turn this into a business – bricks like that have to be imported from the mainland (10kg = 3€). Bigger machines can be bought from China, they cost around 4000€.

Rodrigo and he will work together to see if dry human waste can also be used – no joke! E,. D. and U. will have a meeting with the Diario de Noticias to present our Fire Protection Manual for publication (and maybe also the Hybrid solution) Herbs for MB: Uwe didn’t get to do his Madeira presentation yet, but MB asked for samples (200-300gr, shadow-dried) and prices for several herbs. Not so hot, these herbs can be bought all over the world…V will the samples from Quinta – this way we also have an indication of prices. We shall also send them the Marcela which the old women collect and sell in the streets, which might be very good and unknown to them

Horsetail: there are a lot of issue the clients doesn’t know. So far, Horsetail has only been collected in the wild and never cultivated, they only have a test field in Hungary, apparently they are not happy with that.

Other stuff:

Rodrigo said that the water near the sea is already polluted, probably from Meia Serra which starts to leak toxins in to the ground: a problem for generations to come… Bananas near the sea in Candelaria are suffering from the toxins already (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_disease) E said that a public laboratory is testing water sample for free but we don´t know if they would want to test on the toxins Rodrigo is looking for.

Det. wanted to hear more about our projects. He has a point: it is difficult for newcomers to see where our successes are, and our projects need a long time to come to fruition. I combed through our 40 previous meeting minutes and here is a list of our projects ( I hope I didn’t forget anything):

Tourism & Business in General:

Done:The paper about “Marriage for Foreigners in Portugal” (they do not need a residencia anymore to get married here – we could be the Hawaii of Europe) has been published by Contraditorio in Lisbon and sent by U to all major tour operators and the big hotels on the island about five months ago. It is up to them now to develop the “Wedding packages” to lure couples here for their wedding and celebration.

The Basket: the carpenter is delayed with this, he is now taking the base to a wickerwork factory in Camacha to finish the top. Then it needs to be fitted with cushions, and we can send it to the hotel, and the hotel should order baskets – this will create jobs for the local wickerwork guys.

The University: it didn’t come to pass this year because E’s wife was very sick, so he had to take over her organization of the one week Leicester Course , for students from England. The Leicester University already asked if they could also send their students in 2014. But our project would be larger: 10 courses (with themes like vulcanism, marine biology, wine making, etc.) offered for seven weeks to foreigners who are interested in adult education. E needs help to organize this; we spoke to a local school which trains event managers. Hopefully, we can take this up in time so that we can organize a full Summer University for 2014. This would open a new market of tourism for the island and help the local restaurants, pensions and yes, the souvenir shops with more income in the Summer.

Done: U gave a lecture on Emigration in Nov 2012, to help young Madeirans who want/need to emigrate, with their choices and decisions.

The Hybrid: a procedure to sell and buy a property without the need for a mortgage and bank involvement. The paper on it is nearly finished, it will be published via Contraditório and hopefully also in the Diário de Notícias.

The “museum” Will bring a new attraction to the island and create around 10 jobs. U is talking to a new contact to get an investor from Germany.

Fire prevention and combat manual for the population; the manual is ready in English, has to be transferred into proper, simple Portuguese. We want to have it published by the Diário de Noticias.

Den has a solar panel system for autoconsumo – and there is an offer for a franchise on the island

A digger driver competition with life size machines (our people are very good at this, it’s done in New Zealand) and/or a smaller version with model machines which can be bought in Germany and sold here.

A historical live presentation for wine companies (we need an actor for this)

We talked (and are talking) about a local alternative currency or a time bank via a new online free-of-charge software, and Portuguese initiatives on direct democracy

New: There is a franchise available from www.clinicafinanceira.ptThis company helps private persons and companies understand why they are in debt or not making money, to correct their situation. Really needed in Madeira.

New: U is in touch with J. who entered into a contract with the City Hall of Funchal to recycle the household waste (for a much lower price than Meia Serra), to see if they need engineering staff. Then we could inform our contacts about this job potential.

Done: We had a Presentation of the Madeira Consorcio in the first IGNITE PORTUGAL event in Madeira in July

Visits: We visited Meia Serra and Fabrica de Cana de Acucar Ribeiro Seco and we went pear picking in D’s & P.’s farm (coming up soon again)

The Mosquito Killer (blue light and zzzap!!) does not attract and kill Aedes egyptii (Dengue)

Car battery recycling; new batteries are too cheap from China

Drivers license courses & tests to be taken here by foreigners, the intermediary document will not be accepted by the home country

Agriculture:

Madeira, with clean air, clean water and clean land, can produce limited amounts of “exotic” high quality medicinal plants for good profit; we did a lot of research on the respective products. We also analyzed the advantages and weak points of Madeira farming.

Horsetail contract farming for silica (and other plants). We are waiting for the German contact to tell us when (in autumn) they will bring the test plants (to be planted on Nelson’s land)

This German contact has a project waiting for approval (in Germany), to use banana fibers from the Canary Islands and from Madeira for the production of strong plastic materials.

We are in contact with ECM and AJAMPS

Successful: F got enthusiastic support for his jam factory, now operating!

E is looking for a way to produce his bread in a more professional environment

Cooperation with M B in Germany to get an agent who will tell our farmers what to plant for good prices; U S from Germany who visited our famers in June, is after them. He also wants to publish two articles in expert journals to get the Germans to realize Madeira’s farming potential

We can produce essential oils for good profit, D. will start with Lavender

D. is setting up a permaculture and wants to organize tourism tours on his farm

N. developed an aquaculture system for sale

A company on the mainland is checking out our idea of producing sugar in small size, to be produced and packaged as souvenir for the Madeiran tourists.

Success on the side: D. moved the Secretary of Agriculture, Manuel António Correia, to adopt his idea to pay the population to collect the Fiteira from fire endangered zones which then can be burned in Meia Serra (see Jornal da Madeira on 4.9.2013)